(Question at the end about the picture).
Life is not a vacation. We are in a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. We face challenges and battles each day in our daily lives. Praise God, He doesn’t leave us weaponless. He gives us many weapons to face the enemy.
We have our sword which is the Word of God, the same weapon Jesus used to defeat Satan (Matthew 4:1-11 and Ephesians 6:17).
We have the power of prayer that can annihilate hundreds and thousands of enemies (Leviticus 26:7, 8 and Ephesians 6:18).
We have the power of the blood and the name of Jesus from which the devil flees (Revelation 12:11).
But do we use our weapons? Psalm 78:9 tell us about the Ephaimites who “being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.” Isn’t that amazing? They had their armor on and their weapons with them, but they didn’t use them. They weren’t skilled and practiced with their weapons and therefore they were fearful when facing the battle.
We’ve got to get familiar with our weapons. They’ve got to become part of us. Remember when King Saul gave David his own armor and a sword? When David tried to walk, he was not comfortable because he hadn’t proved them, and took them off (1 Samuel 17:38, 39).
If we are not familiar with our weapons, we won’t be ready to use them when the need arises.
LET’S GET PRACTICED and LET’S TEACH OUR CHILDREN HOW TO USE THE WEAPONS GOD GIVES US!
We have a responsibility to daily fill them with God’s Word. God’s powerful words must get into their mouths (Isaiah 59:21). Let’s teach them how to pray. The way we do this is pray! Never let a day go by, morning and evening, without praying together with your children. Teach them the power of the blood of Jesus and how to use the name of Jesus against the enemy (James 4:7 and 1 John 3:8).
By the time your children leave home and go out into this world they should be so proficient at using their armor that they are ready for any battle they face, and they will face many. Our military don’t go into battle until they are proficient with their weapons! We, and our children, must also become skilled.
Let’s be “warfare ready” families in this hour.
Be encouraged.
Nancy Campbell
Picture: Which one do you think looks ready for war? The roaring bold lion or the one who is pretending to be a lion?